VFTF1

New Fold Booster Technology: Idea One: Stick VF-25S on top of YF-21 Result? Failure. Idea Two: Stick Yoko Ritner on top of YF-21 Result? Failure Idea Three: WE HAVE LIFT OFF!!! Pete

EPISODE 4 But you see Bassara singing while the fans try to punch him - and that's enough Anyways...onward: 1. I really like the opening of this episode, with the juxtaposition of the Fire Bomber concert and then the first, second and third victims of the Vampires being attacked. It's a great way to introduce this plot theme - and of course it's all the scarrier that we have Planet Dance as the background music to the vampire attacks instead of just a generic "scary" vampire attack scene. 2. Were those two girls who pushed flower girl out of the way to get to Bassara the same girls who praised him last episode at the Super Nova competition? 3. This episode introduces the ever loyal, persistent, brave, strong, humble and proffesional Micheal. He's one of my favorite bit characters in the Macross universe - everything about him is well executed. He's huge and buff but wears the glasses that you would associate with an accountant. He's a bit of a clutz but certainly he's not the stereotypical "brawn over brain" that is usually associated with big strong looking guys. 4. The Vampires: WHY do all of them look the same - down to even having the exact same hair dos? That's just kind of irritating. Are they clones? 5. The scene where Bassara and Mylene run through the sewers kind of reminds me of Minmei and Hikaru lost in the SDF-1...but of course...it's totally different since Bassara knows where they're going and the bodygaurds and Vampires make appearances in the sewers too. 6. Bassara gets "shot" in the arm by a Vampire beam when shielding Mylene - the beams seem to only therefore work when they hit the head of a human being (this has also been the case in space combat) - ergo, is it safe to presume that spiritia resides in the human brain? That it's a function of neurons and...umm...oh...I forgot my brain terminology that I learned from Asimov's Fantastic Voyage II... but there's some kind of stem or something that might be responsible for creative thought...forgot what it was called...but whatever - point is - this is spiritia. Actually, after re-reading Asimov's book, which is about a neuroscientist's attempt to monitor and track the portion of the brain responsible for creative thought and to generally map out the brain - I'm less averse to the quantification of spiritia that the Vampires/Enemy engage in - and that later Dr. Chiba will revolutionize. It's just...it would have been better, plot wise, if the writers had actually explicitly tied spiritia to the brain and used a little bit of true scientific terminology in this regard since there are plausible theories out there. The way they did it kind of leaves the subject up in the air... 7. I agree with Renato that the argument over music between Bassara and Mylene is great - and it's also nice to see that they're arguing specifically about music. Notice the difference: Mylene asks "where's the harmony!?" Bassara says he will come in (late or early) "when his heart tells him" So there's a nice debate in music - the goal is to achieve a beautiful sound - but Bassara insists that it can only be done by being true to yourself, while Mylene points out that you need to be sensitive to others. This isn't the last time she makes such a comment - in the future she'll laugh at Basara that he's scared to play Ichijo Hikaru precisely because Hikaru could empathize with others - while Bassara can't. And you know...one wonders about this theme - because Bassara himself realizes there's a problem because his music can't reach the hearts of those he's singing too - so he keeps plumbing the depths of his heart for a sound that will touch other hearts. 8. Max and Millia's exchange here is cooler than in the interview from last episode. Why? Because of the coffee. Max makes Millia some coffee and she says "I don't need special consideration" - I think this kind of shows that she's still a Meldrani and not fully accustomed to human culture, because Max is kind of surprised - at least I interpret his reaction to be like "dude - what special treatment? I was just offering you coffee in a styrophom cup." After the discussion - which is basically an admission of helplessness on both their parts - Max is obviously stressed since he drinks the second cup too... 9. Gamlin's squad commander's talk with Max.... I love Max's voice. This is where his main character trait from SDF-1 really shines through - namely he is a polite gentleman. And to be honest - in a situation like this one - with three pissed off battle weary veterns talking to you - the only thing that kept these guys from snapping was Max's politeness I think. It is a firm politeness - like yes, I understand. Thank you. Bye. But I think if he had even a hint of arrogance in him then they would have been most pissed. As it stands they were annoyed, Gamlin especially - but I think Gamlin is just jealous - he understands that Max knows something and that the military in general is doing something that Gamlin is not privy to - and I think it frustrates him. Could be wrong... 10. The ending is once again abrupt - and Basara seems to do everything possible to pretend he doesn't feel anything for Mylene - but he clearly keeps protecting her and risking himself for her. I wonder - does he like her? As in - is he attracted to her? I can't believe it's just a big brother thing because there's plenty of other people in trouble but Bassara is always taking care of one person - Mylene - and that's a priority for him - even more important than singing to his enemies sometimes. Anyways - the episode moves the plot along. Oh - one last thing: When the enemy defolds, and the bridge bunny announces to Max that the enemy has defolded "inside the red line" (aka inside the perimeter where no enemy should be allowed EVER) - Max is embarrassed, freaked, and quickly turns to Exedol like "help me here man!" that's a funny scene. In general, this episode is good Max development. Pete

Whatever I just googled him is all. I have no clue where he shows up, if at all, in Shadow Chronicles - and truth be told, he looks so generic that he could arguably be one of a number of background characters in a dozen different cartoons of this ilk Pete

This: http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/characte...acter.php?id=41 Pete

And on that note - it's Friday! Time for EPISODE 4 I invite somebody OTHER than Gubaba or me to write the "Official" in depth review! If nobody steps up, I'll do it later today - but it would be nice to get a fresh perspective to start our discussion of Episode 4 from - and episode 4 is NOT "more of the same" by any stretch of the imagination - so let's see what ya got! Pete

Well, the anime figure technology is advancing too - and the thin about clothing is that I prefer sculpted clothing because it's nearer to what we see in the anime. But in terms of the bodies - you do realize that the revoltech Queens Blade figures had soft asses? At least one of them did... What I'm most interested in though is Yamato's VFM line - which for now apparently only consists of one Queen's Blade figure - but there's great potential there I think... Pete

Very cool! Pete

Thank you. Since I don't torrent, and my usual source doesn't seem to have the hundred something episode long series, then I'll go for the movies. I did that for Ideon though, and I admit it was a bit confusing since things start out kind of En Medias Rex and I have the feeling I missed lots of interesting stuff..DYRL does the same actually. But ok - guess it's the best I can do for now. Pete

Fine, fine. I'll look into getting some PGs in 2010. Re: the torso I'll go take some pictures of my v 2.0 RX-78-2 later. The pics you posted, if I am not mistaken are of the KA? I can tell (I hope) by the yellow vents on his chest. The anime accurate Gundam should just hav the vent fins protruding from a blue chest box, whereas the KA has those yellow grills... Pete

It's not gonna happen. Harmony Gold was also counting on riding the wave of "Holywood will now make anything into a movie as long as it came from the 80s." That wave ended when the financial meltdown happened. The last movie to find its' way into the cinema based on that wave was GI JOE, which did not do well. Harmony Gold missed the bus on this chance - for the simple reason that out of all the nostalgic 80s shows and comic book movies to be done, Robotech was at the bottom of the list for Holywood execs ANYWAYS. Also - yes, NOW it seems Paramount is rolling out a new Transformers movie once a year - ROTF came out incredibily quickly. But the first movie took FOUR years to get off the ground despite a good economy, great brand recognition and the cooperation of the largest toy company on Earth, Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay. It still took FOUR years. Now think - Robotech was NOT a successful 80s cartoon like Transformers, it was NOT a successful 80s brand. Robotech DOES come from the 80s cartoon rooster yes - but what is it's 80s track record? FAILURE. Transformers, by contrast, had only one "failure" in the 80s - namely the 86 movie, which probably wasn't a financial failure because it didn't cost that much to make anyways, and video and later DVDs sales have been strong for TWO DECADES. Tobey Maguire might have likely THOUGHT ABOUT securing Robotech because he wants profitable properties for HIS production company - and of course you go fishing looking for cheap stuff nobody wants in the hope that you can turn it into a winner. But really - is there like a team at Warner Bros. dedicated to this movie ? Do we have a script writer, let alone a director yet? I seriously think it's just a case of one guy with a name - Tobey Macguire - saying the word 'Robotech" in the context of "live action movie" and HG is just going to ride that forever. It's not gonna be made. Nobody is gonna invest in it. It will do worse than Battle Field Earth. Robotech has always been a failure because it's nothing more than a cheap rip off that makes no sense. As hard as it is to believe but - it is actually NOT EASY to make a very good story out of completely different anime put together - the story stops being coherent and inteligable and there is no pacing or thought. Rather, it's a race to the bottom as Macek had to figure out more and more crazy sounding reasons for why the things we see in Robotech happen. I do admit I could be wrong - but I am willing to bet I'm right. I just can't imagine this ever happening. The market isn't there anymore for 80s nostalgia and Robotech was an 80s failure. People are NOT NOSTALGIC FOR 80s FAILURES. People were nostalgic for the good stuff from the 80s. Robotech was an 80s failure. Pete

My guess is "reducing scale" means reducing it FROM 1:1 to 1:2000 and therefore having to adjust the details accordingly. Pete

Yeah - but not in the way you might imagine - not in the fun way. No. Instead, their job is to scour the internet for cheap porn from Honduras and Singapour, and then DUB over it. They just do the dubs. Pete

Oh no - you misunderstand me my dear Gubaba. I do not deny you your indulgence. Rather, I honest to gosh don't know who those people are, but given the context, I feel I should. Instead of just letting my ignorance lay bare, I kind of toyed with the statement I never heard of those people is all... Yep - and the thing to remember is that Don Murphy had an open-to-the-public website pretty much for like 4 years since 2003 where TF fans would post all the time and Don Murphy would update constantly about the progress of the script. I swear I never heard of a movie being that publically discussed for such a long time WHILE in production. And it certainly wasn't Don Murphy always saying "I can't talk about that." Instead, it was Don Murphy saying "we wrote X into the script what do you think?" and people giving their opinions. There was a lot of back and forth about what character to put in the show, what they should transform into, how to deal with the "canon" that came before. I remember that there was plenty of arguments and pissing and moaning and back and forth and it just seemed endless. I compare THAT experience to the media black out - imposed by HG - on Robotech LAM and am skeptical. This is why I felt Kevin's "well that's what they complained about before TSC" post at Robotech.com to be important - it's a smokescreen. It's a total smokescreen because it's like - they accidentally finally achieved something so now they're trying to play it off like some big plan. Like everything went as it should and the show got released and that's that and now they're working on new stuff and it'll also get released and they can't talk about it. I don't believe that because it makes no sense. WHY wouldn't they talk about it? Don Murphy did and look how great that turned out for TFs - 4 years of shoring up fan support and generating great buzz. That's why I would gamble that the RLAM is NOT in the works. What IS going on is simple: Harmony Gold will do ANYTHING to keep up the impression that Robotech is this amazing breath taking show, and that their company is making stuff that is on the cutting edge of science fiction entertainment - easily up there and comparable to Star Trek and Star Wars. This is a load of bull. Star Trek and Star Wars are both original works that have made millions of dollars, the former spans four or five tv series and about...what...8 movies? Star Wars is possibly the most revolutionary science fiction/adventure cinematic feature of the 20th century. And these dip sticks at HG have the nerve to compare themselves and Robotech to THAT? Look - MACROSS doesn't compare to that. And in fact - Macross doesn't have to because it's not live action, it's anime, and it's not exactly in the same genre as those shows - it's a different ball park. Anyways - HG loves the fact that Tobey Macguire once said something about maybe making a Robotech movie - and they will milk this fact until cows fly and cats bark. It is just one more "reason" to feed their deluded fans into believing that this mediocre bootleg called Robotech is worth their time. EDIT: Also - one of the stories I recall Don Murphy telling was how he would send the script/treatment/draft/whatever it's called of TF to studios and EVERYBODY rejected it. And then like a week later everybody who rejected it calls up and is like "we want it!" Why? The way Murphy told it - the initial rejection was done by bosses who were too old to have grown up in the 80s and watched Transformers. But then younger people got word that the bosses had seen the thing and rejected it and they were like "don't do that! It'll be a mega hit! Get it back!" Now - I HIGHLY doubt the same dynamic will be working in Robotech's favor. Robotech was no where near as popular in the 80s as Transformers and it had no where near the staying power. Pete

Well that basically means my whole post was completely irrelevent Not the first time it's happened As for la jeaune fille avec les fleurs (if I even spelt that right...er...spelled?) .... I think you're right Marzan. She's one of those beautiful Kawamori plot elements - never meant to be fully explained. Speaking of her... back in episode 1 we had an up-skirt shot - but Mylene got the view instead of the audience. In light of the rising level of fanservicing that anime has since adopted - I find that particular scene amusing because it's like fanservice...but isn't. What's the point of the explosion blowing up her skirt if we don't see panties? In other words: assuming animation is always done in order to present something to the viewer...what was the point of that shot? Pete Pete

See... this thread just proves that it's GOOD that Macross series don't get made every year. It's easy to throw a zillion ideas out on the table, 90% of them are going to be forgetable. This is another reason why I am bothered by the general thrust of the topic question - because it kind of asks for Macross to go faster. I would prefer NO MORE MACROSS AT ALL to a bad Macross series that ruins everything for us. Seriously - look how touchy people get with this stuff. If Hasbro had NOT made the Unicron Trilogy then it's quite possible I would still be a TF fan, but as such - my brain just blew up and I couldn't handle it any more. There's only so much that a person can take in terms of telling themselves that despite year after year of shitty TV shows and bad toys, he STILL likes this franchise. At some point you just say - screw it! Enough! You stop holding out hope for improvement because you recognize systemetized mediocrity. With Macross - insofar as sometimes I think "I would like to see more" - that feeling is infinitely preferable to "this franchise now sucks. How could I have liked it once?" Pete

Well - if I remember correctly I THINK the Protodevilin try your tactic at some point later in the show - that is, they put the mute button on - or some kind of equivalent, in order not to hear Bassara I will be waiting for you to point out when the "gay nature" of Bassara starts. Meanwhile, can someone explain to me what an androgens is? I guess I can google it...hang on...ok - now I know what it is. But the thing with the question of his manliness - because this is how I interpret androgens - is whether or not it is manly to go into the middle of a battle and sing songs to the enemy. I think it is. It's way more manly than just being cannon fodder and not questioning authority and doing what you're told even if it means you end up in a comma. However - presuming that you disagree, would you say that Bassara was manly in this episode because he beat the crap out of those Kings and Queens fans? I guess I'm asking for a definition of sorts. The comparisson with Hikaru is also interesting. I don't think Hikaru was ever frightened except that very first time going up in the 1D - but that was more shock than fear. I had the feeling that he had an instinct for flying and it would take over to the extent that fear wasn't an issue. Where he DID have problems was accepting his role as a soldier and the fact that that meant killing people. But you say Hikaru got balls at the end - I agree...but I wonder how you would define him getting balls? Me - I think he got balls because he found the courage to follow through on his pacifist idealism in a realistic way (unlike Kaifun who could only mouth platitudes about the military being bad, Hikaru found a way to stop the violence). Yes, it's true that he also became a confident leader who flew into combat and kicked butt while his rookie squad looked on, thankful for salvation.... But notice that despite being a more manly fighter, he was STILL up to the very end totally incapable of saying "I love you" to Misa and kept allowing himself to be bounced around like a ping-pong by Minmey. Oh - gee. Minmey called me and wants me to see her even though I have a date with Misa...I'll go...and now I'll run back to Misa in the scarf Minmey gave me - oh darn. And on it went. Men have a tendency to think that it is manly to do what comes naturally to them - namely fighting. But I say that real manliness is understanding and surpassing your nature and taking control of your destiny. Hikaru did this in terms of his predicament as a soldier - I think it was great. But he was unmanly in relation to the women in his life until the very end. Although...I have a feeling that his indesiciveness was something that attracted Misa because it was mixed in with him being exceedingly considerate of others.. Anyways... the important thing is that you're watching Macross 7 with us Bomba!! Pete

Nor Exedor to identify the enemy. This is one thing I REALLY like about Macross 7 - namely it's not just "what is Bassara doing?" that is a mystery for such a long time, it's also the precise identity of the enemy. And they take their sweet time unraveling this mystery. In fact- in a way - there's several mysteries going on by the end of episode 3 that will be key to the plot as the beginning progresses: 1. Why is Bassara singing at the enemies? 2. Why is Gamlin prevented with a direct order from interfering and why hasn't the military attempted to charge Bassara/take away his Valkyrie etc? 3. Just who are the enemy and what are they doing to the victimized pilots? 4. What is spiritia? 5. Will Fire Bomber ever be popular and successful? The whole beginning is rife with questions, questions and they take their sweet time, letting the plot progress, until things are answered. But given that it took until episode 12 (IIRC) to hear the word "Protoculture" and the story of the Zendradi - then it's fair to say that this is a Macross tradition. See - it's good to go one episode at a time and pace the discussion because then we notice stuff like this - namely that there are so many question marks for such a long time in the plot. Pete

Mental images this conveys (keep in mind we're talking about MY mind here - which is half sick and half empty): The President of Iran's wife's daughter went to your high school along with some guy from A Christmas Carrol or some other book by Dickens... I went to high school with Sheverdanza's son. Like his father, he liked to handcuff Russians to radiators and then threaten them with a make shift flame thrower made by spraying deodorant in front of a lit ciggarrette lighter. [Question: what does this make me an expert in?] Anyways - as for Robotech LAM...judging by how much Don Murphey wrote about during the time leading up to the making of Transformers the movie - and I'm talking years here - I think there would be an equal amount of information and marketing with regard to Robotech if it were going anywhere. Since there's not - then I think it's safe to say the movie is not going to be made. The only place where it's constant buzz is here and on Robotech.com. Pete

Wow Question: What sounds better than Row Row Fight the Power? Answer: 1. Open two Youtube windows with this song in each window. 2. Move the song in one window to 2:30 seconds - hit play 3. Simulataneously hit play from 0:00 seconds on the second copy of the song in the second wind. LISTEN. That is frickin' awesome. They overlap PERFECTLY and do it in a way that just makes this song doubly amazing! When the first song (started from 2:30 time) ENDS - start it again - the first one (which started at 0:00) will be at 2:30! And it loops! And it can go on forever like this! And it's great Pete

Help How many episodes does Galaxy Express 999 have, why is there one series that starts at episode 19, and is Captain Harlock a spin off? I want to start with the episode that I saw on Youtube where the kids are on their skateboards and they steal that one lady's ticket and that dude sees a girl who he thinks is his mom.... Looks like I'll have to wait 'till Saturday to download this since I need to know WHAT to download first. For now I guess I'll take in some Macross 7 just to be ahead of the curve Pete

It happens Pete

Thanks. I'm leaving my rustic isolated country farm today and going into the city where I can get a clearer signal for internet connection and am planning on downloading as much Galaxy Express 999 as possible. So if there isn't already a thread for it...I might just have to start it I'll see the youtube clip then too. And to end on an on-topic note: I hope that gun licking Yoko is a PVC. I've warmed to her. Pete

Let me preface the following opinion by saying that I am a Gundam lightweight. I've built a handful of MG kits, a couple HGs and never a PG - so certainly I don't have the knowledge to be sure that what I'm saying isn't totally wrong... but here goes: I kind of understand the problem you are talking about, because I have noticed it on my MG Force Impulse and on the MG RX-78-2 KA I once had - whenever there is a core fighter, there is a problem with the torso. However - and this isn't a perfect solution - but the version 2.0 RX-78-2 (and GM version 2.0) do TRY to solve this problem - at least that's the feeling I got. The Torso in those is far more poseable even with the core fighter inside. This is due to a pretty ingenious inner frame design where the hip-portion of the torso is not a stable flat piece (the place where you attach the core fighter before sliding the main body on) - instead - it actually has mobility independent of the hips themselves. Also, the construction of the upper body itself is wonderful because the lower half of the abdomen is attached to the upper half of the abdomen on a pivoting/arching axis inner frame piece which allows for movement of that part even with the core fighter inside. It's not perfect - but I think that might be due to the scale. I don't know how the PG RX-78-2 tackles this problem - but the version 2.0 MG really does a good job of it all things considered. Pete

I don't want to bring back a debate that was totally incomprehensible to me - but is there anything in the Japanese that implies OTHERWISE? My fansubs explicitly translate it into "father" a couple times and I never got the impression that the dude wasn't his dad - I mean - especially given what Rossiu looks like in the last episode, it would be absurd to stipulate that that is just coincidence. Reference to...? sorry, but my ignorance of anime is showing again ---------- Anyways - yeah - I agree about how every scene is awesome - but I have always liked that scene in episode 11 best because I guess I just love Nia and Simon's relationship - I love how she takes Kamina's place and does a better job of it, and how that's such a natural progression for a young boy to go from being cared for by his big bro' to being loved by a beautiful girl. And it's as if all the tension that had been building since episode 1 just explodes and Simon really becomes who he is. But yeah... hard to nit pick when there isn't a scene or episode that isn't somewhow awesome. Pete

Re: Those comparisson pictures posted a couple posts up: Wow. Where is the scene with Max with his arm around Misa and Kakizaki on the right of them from? What episode?? I TOTALLY don't remember that scene... Pete